page_title: Cerne Abbas Giant
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Cerne Abbas Giant / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: 1891 Ordnance Survey map extract showing the Cerne Abbas Giant
context_page_description: The Cerne Abbas Giant is a hill figure near the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset, England. 55 metres high, it depicts a standing nude male figure with a prominent erection and wielding a large club in its right hand. Like many other hill figures it is outlined by shallow trenches cut in the turf and backfilled with chalk rubble. The figure is listed as a scheduled monument of England and the site is owned by the National Trust.
  The origin and age of the figure are unclear. It is often thought of as an ancient construction, though the earliest mention of it dates to the late 17th century. Early antiquarians associated it, on little evidence, with a Saxon deity, while other scholars sought to identify it with a Romano-British figure of Hercules or some syncretisation of the two. There is archaeological evidence that parts of the drawing have been lost over time. The lack of earlier descriptions, along with information given to an 18th-century historian by the steward of the manor at the time, leads some modern scholars to conclude that it probably dates from the 17th century, and perhaps originated as political satire.
context_section_description: The Giant is located just outside the small village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset, about 48 kilometres (30 mi) west of Bournemouth and 26 kilometres (16 mi) north of Weymouth. The figure depicts a naked man and is of colossal dimensions, being about 55 metres (180 ft) high and 51 metres (167 ft) wide. It is cut into the steep west-facing side of a hill known as Giant Hill or Trendle Hill. Atop the hill is another landmark, the Iron Age earthwork known as the "Trendle" or "Frying Pan". The figure's outline is formed by trenches cut into the turf about 0.6 metres (2 ft 0 in) deep, and filled with crushed chalk. In his right hand the giant holds a knobbled club 37 metres (121 ft) in length, and adding 11 metres (36 ft) to the total height of the figure. A line across the waist has been suggested to represent a belt. Writing in 1901 in the Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, Henry Colley March noted that: "The Cerne Giant presents five characteristics: (1) It is petrographic ... It is, therefore, a rock carving ... (2) It is colossal ... (3) It is nude. ... (4) It is ithyphallic ... (5) The Giant is clavigerous. It bears a weapon in its right hand."
  A 1996 study found that some features have changed over time, concluding that the figure originally held a cloak in its left arm and stood over a disembodied head. The former presence of a cloak was corroborated in 2008 when a team of archaeologists using special equipment determined that part of the carving had been allowed to be obliterated. The cloak might have been a depiction of an animal skin, giving credence to the theory that the giant was a depiction of a hunter, or alternatively, Hercules with the skin of the Nemean lion over his arm. In 1993, the National Trust gave the Giant a "nose job" after years of erosion had worn it away.
  The Giant has been described as "renowned for its manhood", "markedly phallic", "sexually explicit" and "ithyphallic". The Giant sports an erection, including its testicles, some 11 metres (36 feet) long, and nearly the length of its head. It has been called "Britain's most famous phallus"; one commentator noted that postcards of the Giant were the only indecent photographs that could be sent through the English Post Office. However, this feature may also have changed over time. From a review of historical depictions of the figure, it has been identified that the Giant's current large erection is, in fact, the result of merging a circle representing his navel with a smaller penis during a 1908 re-cut: the navel still appears on a late 1890s picture postcard.
  The carving is most commonly known as the Cerne Abbas Giant. The National Trust and others call it the "Cerne Giant", while English Heritage and Dorset County Council call it simply "The Giant". The carving has also been referred to as the "Old Man", and more recently it has been referred to as the "Rude Man" of Cerne.
  Although the best view of the Giant is from the air, most tourist guides recommend a ground view from the "Giant's View" lay-by and car park off the A352. This area was developed in 1979 in a joint project between the Dorset County Planning Department, the National Trust, Nature Conservancy Council (now called English Nature), the Dorset Naturalists Trusts, the Department of the Environment, and local land-owners. The information panel there was devised by the National Trust and Dorset County Council.
caption: Cerne Abbas Giant on an 1891 Ordnance Survey map (1:10,560)[2]
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